Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Fever Dreams


Ever had those? We start with the King Capitol Punishment Utopia Synth, then the Zvex Box of Metal, to the Moog MuRF, and on to the Analogue Systems rs290 Delay/Sampler module.

All of these pedals sound incredible on their own. The A.S. delay time is being modulated by the rs80 LFO module. No, you do not need the huge system. You can buy these modules separately and there are a variety of cases available including small ones. I don't wanna go back to sleep.

Friday, December 19, 2008

A.S. rs510e EMS Synthi Trapezoid Generator Short Demo


Here's the fully capable Analogue Systems rs510e. It's the only licensed version of the Trapezoid Generator from the legendary EMS synths. The rs510e basically has an envelope generator and a VCA built into one module. You can trigger the EG with a gate from a keyboard, sequencer, or the trigger button on the face plate.

The Trapezoid Generator works a lot like a traditional envelope generator but only has three stages. There is Attack, On, and Decay. On a graph, depending on the settings, this forms a trapezoid shape. The rs510e also has an Off knob. Setting this knob fully clockwise results in a more typical EG. Turn it to the left and you have something special. The off knob controls the auto repeat function. The more you turn counterclockwise, the faster it goes. You still have all the other knobs to manipulate as well. Depending on the settings, the rs510e can repeat rather quickly.

The audio in and outs sport level controls, you can distort the input a bit too. You can also use the rs510e as a modulation source, sending the trapezoid out two different outputs. There's also a level knob for the trapezoid which allows you to attenuate the output or invert it.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Random Randomness Randomizer

Thanks to our friend Don for helping out with this patch. We're using the Analogue Systems rs380 Modulation Controller's random out function. We're sending it an external clock, in turn the rs380 is sending a sample and hold control voltage to our modulation destination. Other modules used include; the rs510e Synthi Trapezoid Generator, rs500e Synthi Filter, rs95 Oscillator, and the rs85 extended range LFO. The rs380 also offers an LFO with square and triangle waveforms, a white noise source, and a simple VCA.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Monomachine FM Jam

Here's a little ditty using the Elektron Monomachine as a polyphonic MIDI module. We've made a basic patch with one of the FM machines and set the Monomachine to poly mode. The Dave Smith MoPho is playing our bass line and the Machinedrum, also by Elektron, is providing the drum sounds. You can achieve interesting and bigger kick sounds (or any sound!) by layering. Essentially you can program one pattern sequence, let's say kick 1, and have it trigger another, kick 2, at the same time. Maybe you like one kick drum sound for it's attack and another for it's low end. With this trigger function you can try out different combinations without having to reprogram the rhythm line over and over. The Machinedrum is controlling the Mopho and the SFX-60 via MIDI.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Cwejman VM-1 Meets SH-101


We're using the sequencer from the classic Roland SH-101 to play the Cwejman VM-1 Voice Module / Multimode Filter. The VM-1 is an incredible module that contains a versatile Cwejman oscillator as well as Cwejman's renowned Mulitmode filter. Unlike the MMF-1 the VM-1 gives you the "Mode Morph" knob which allows you to sweep through the different filter modes. These include low, band, and highpass. You also have the ability to fade between filtering the oscillator and an external audio source. The VM-1 has 7 different oscillator waveforms to choose from and includes a control knob for pulse width. It has audio outputs for the filter and the voice. The VM-1 also has a versatile envelope section, allowing you to control both amplitude and filter envelopes in conjunction or separately. The best thing is, it sounds great.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Elektron Monomachine as a Guitar Processor Part I

This is the Elektron Monomachine synthesizer. We're running our Strat into the external input, using the "Thru" machine. There are a lot of effects you can use to process external sources in the Monomachine. In this example we start by using the internal delay. The Monomachine has a built in sequencer and we've set it to play 8th notes. You can adjust the decay time, giving you choppy tremolo effects. You can also adjust the attack time which can give you some backwards guitar sounds. There are lots of possibilities in this synth for processing. In the next video we'll play with rhythmic variations, sample rate reduction and some cool LFO tricks.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Thingamagoop Party


You can check out some of the different color combinations available in the Bleep Labs Thingamagoop in this picture. Lots of different colors are being featured in our Ebay listings. Click the Ebay link to the right or just call us for availability!